(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a short film generation/reproduction apparatus for generating video of a short film using at least one still picture and reproducing such video, as well as a method thereof.
(2) Description of the Related Art
In the domestic camera market in Japan in 2001, the number of shipments of digital still cameras exceeded that of film cameras, and the disparity between them will expectedly be wider in 2002. Furthermore, a great many number of digital camera-equipped mobile phones have been released in the recent mobile phone market, enjoying great popularity. Against this backdrop, there are an increased number of users of digital still cameras, who possess a large number of digital still pictures (to be referred to as “DSP” hereinafter).
Generally, DSPs are stored in the disk drive of a personal computer. In order to enable a user to view and manage such a large number of DSPs, application software packages, so-called “image browsing software” for viewing and managing pictures are on sale. Such applications is capable of realizing a conventionally-used paper photo album on a personal computer, as well as enabling the user to view the whole pictures in the form of thumbnails and carrying out hierarchical management of pictures by the use of directories.
Moreover, the above applications have a capability known as “slide show” as one of the capabilities of viewing DSPs stored in the disk drive (Refer to Japanese Laid-Open Patent application No. 01-92875, for example). Slide show can be likened to “digital picture card show” in which a DSP to be displayed is switched to another one at certain time intervals or according to a trigger such as a user instruction, as in the case of a slide projector. Some of the image browsing software applications are further capable of increasing a degree of entertainment by adding, to pictures, BGM and transitions such as “fade”, “wipe” and “rotation” when a DSP is switched to another one.
However, the above applications are nothing but virtual embodiments of conventional paper photo albums on personal computers, indicating that slide show is basically the same as a picture card show in which pictures need to be flipped through one by one. Therefore, although the existing applications are well utilizing features of digital data, they are not capable of providing users with such enjoyment as can be provided only by the use of digital data.
In order to provide users with digital-specific enjoyment, there is application software for generating a cinema-like video (short film) from input still pictures (DIGITALSTAGE INC., LIFE with PhotoCinema). This application is capable of automatically generating a short film in response to the user's selections of still pictures, BGM (music) and a style set as film materials. Style set defines an outline (color tone and effect) of a short film to be generated and visual effects that match such image. This application, which is capable of giving moving picture-like motions to still pictures in a short film it generates, deserves being called a breakthrough in the field in that it has added a new dimension to the world of entertainment by utilizing digital still pictures.
However, the above application has the following problems.
Firstly, when selecting still pictures, music and a style, the user sometimes selects BGM and DSPs not suitable for such selected style (effect), giving a strange impression to a viewer of the short film.
Secondly, the user is required to select still pictures, music and a style all on his/her own, which is highly troublesome. For example, it may not be troublesome for the user to select DSPs which s/he wishes to use, but it is complex for him/her to select music and a style suited to the selected pictures. Meanwhile, even if the user wishes to select summery DSPs and a lively style after selecting summery music, it is not easy for him/her to select a set of appropriate pictures and music from among a library storing an enormous number of DSPs.
Thirdly, the above application software does not recognize an object in the DSPs (e.g. a face) and does not take into account the position of such object before applying an effect to DSPs in a short film. Therefore, undesirable motions frequently occur such as that an unimportant portion of a DSP is cut out and inserted into a pictorial cut, that a portion of a person's face is gone out of a DSP frame and that a picture is zoomed in with the focus on an unimportant portion.
Fourthly, since the application is intended for the use on a personal computer, the user is required to operate the application by the keyboard, which is complex and troublesome. Also, although there is an increasing demand for reproducing a short film by such a home appliance as a television with the computerization of home appliances, current home appliances are not capable of reproducing short films yet.
Fifthly, the application is not capable of recognizing the type of an object (e.g. a facial part) and then applying a visual effect to DSPs. Because of this reason, a facial part is gone out of a DSP frame and the order of applying slide in/slide out is not determined on the basis of the importance of facial parts, giving a strange impression to the viewer of the short film.
Lastly, the application is not capable of recognizing the name of an object before applying a visual effect. As a result, all objects are handled equally, making it impossible to generate a short film in which an arbitrary person, for example, is put into focus. Therefore, when a short film generated by the above application is reproduced at a wedding reception or a birthday party where specific people are gathering, it is not possible to identify the main person in the short film because such object is out of focus. Thus, a short film generated by the existing application software does not serve the intended purpose, depending on a place where such short film is reproduced.